Washington Apartments lacks parking, causes frustration
Several Washington Apartments residents are unhappy with the revamped parking situation between Ojibway and Ottawa courts.
Arkansas graduate student Erin Hawks is one of the frustrated.
“It is completely nonsensical,” she said.
Problems arrived when the complex’s residents, limited to juniors, seniors, graduate students and families, began moving in after the courts were redesigned over the summer. It became apparent there were not enough parking spaces for the complex’s 64 residents.
Joan Schmidt, associate director of Residence Life, said the problem occurred when Calumet Court, previously reserved for Washington Apartments residents, was reassigned as a faculty and staff parking lot.
“We called parking services immediately when it became evident that there were not enough spaces available,” Schmidt said. “We need adequate parking available.”
Calumet reassigned
In response to the complaints, Calumet Court was reassigned to the Washington Court Apartments, effective Aug. 21, according to an e-mail obtained by Central Michigan Life from Parking Services Office Manager Kim Roshak.
But while Calumet Court was reassigned, the signs on the lot were not immediately changed, so faculty continued to park in the lot, along with students, who parked there illegally.
“Currently, the sign is not up, but Facilities Management has put a rush on the order for the sign and it should be up by no later than (today),” said CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley. “We hope to have lot 56 open for faculty to park in no later than three weeks, and that should resolve all parking issues at Washington Court Apartments.”
Other issues
But the lack of ticketing illegal parkers is another problem for Hawks.
“I paid $150 to park my car at Washington Court for a year, and there are often not enough spaces available,” she said. “I risk being ticketed in non-approved parking areas on a daily basis simply because the campus police are not actively enforcing the parking rules. These lazy students disobeying the rules and parking illegally should be charged more than $20 for breaking these rules.”
Schmidt said the CMU Police has been reluctant to ticket those without the proper permits for Washington Court spaces because of the change in the Calumet Court lot and also because of the influx of residents moving in over the past few weeks.
The back-in parking spaces and two-way bicycle lanes also are causing problems, according to residents.
“I am very concerned that not everyone is skilled in backing their automobiles and I fear that my car is going to be hit,” Hawks said.
